PBM therapy??

[DDKRM]

I’ve just read a promotional article about pbm treatment, some sort of light therapy, which included the magic words ‘reducing inflammation ‘. It tells me it boosts mitochondrial function. It’s used for systemic conditions such as chronic fatigue and autoimmune diseases. I prick up my ears at the sound of anything which could sort out my never ending bouts of fatigue which have plagued me through my long pmr journey. Has anyone tried this or know anything about it?

[Hidden]

Hi DDKRM

I’ve not heard about it & had a Google but couldn’t find anything. Where did you read about it?

PMRPro is away at the moment & is the most likely to have read about it if anyone has, so we will await to see what she has to say.

Kind Regards

MrsN

[DDKRM in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for responding. It was an advert for a local specialist optometric practice. Where it’s used for dry macular degeneration but seems it can have other uses. No, I couldn’t find any reference to it’s use for pmr either.

[HeronNS in reply to Hidden]

thorlaser.com/

[HeronNS]

I've been using a form of this therapy, company is called Bioflex and it's offered through physiotherapists and chiropractors in Canada and some other countries. I use it because it was tested for effectiveness in treating rheumatoid arthritis and did show positive results, I believe it reduces production of pain causing cytokines. It has not been studied for PMR. If you look up my profile i posted a series of posts on Alternative Therapy. In fact I think my very first post on here was about Bioflex, asking if anyone had used it. In the end I decided to be a bit of a guinea pig and try it anyway, and I must have posted something like a dozen posts to update people over the following few months or year. I still go for treatment every few weeks. When I stopped for a while I ended up a bit of a mess and had to increase the treatments again. It's hard to know whether it helps with fatigue because, of course, I haven't not been using LLLT so I don't know how I'd be without it, but I would say generally speaking it has helped. It's also noteworthy that my physiotherapist is really excellent so how much of the improvement I've felt is because of the LLLT and how much from her other therapies and her healing touch is difficult to say. Do your research and read if you can about how other people have found treatment from the company you're interested in.

bioflexlaser.com/

[DDKRM in reply to HeronNS]

Thanks for responding. Nothing in the literature re pmr. Or any reference to pmr. I wonder if there are any other people out there who have used it and what they think. It’s given via a whole body light pod. Sound familiar to you?

[HeronNS in reply to DDKRM]

The treatment I receive is by small pads studded with lights, the pads are about the size of a hand. Treatment is very targeted. I would think being able to receive light all through the body at one time would be interesting. That, after all, is how we would have received light as prehistoric people on the savanna. I noted the treatments via PBM are for about ten minutes two or three times a week.

The treatments I get last at least half an hour. But they are as I said targeted at a small part of the body. I started with twice a week treatments and gradually this was reduced to once a week and for some time now I get a sort of maintenance treatment every couple of weeks, lately we've been trying every three weeks. Fortunately I have partial coverage for physio.

[HeronNS]

Here is more than we ever wanted to know and which I do not understand:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

[DDKRM in reply to HeronNS]

70 pages! Bit beyond me. I think I’ll check this out further. And I’ve got a rheumy appointment in September. I’ll ask for an opinion.

[Jsne]

A friend has been urging me to try light therapy. He sent me the following- not sure if relevant. I need to watch - this time I intend to follow through

Background of PEMF (pulsed electromagnetic field) Cellular Exercise - YouTube youtube.com/watch?time_cont... <youtube.com/watch?time_cont...

Jane,

See other vids on this tech, then search locally for a center that offers it near you. It appears likely that this modality will benefit your recovery

[DDKRM in reply to Jsne]

Sounds a similar thing. All the people on the video were so enthusiastic! Shall find out more.

[HeronNS in reply to Jsne]

This is completely different from low level light therapy, which is simply LED lights, no electromagnetism involved.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

It is another term for Low Laser Light Therapy - as Heron has explained. I think the version used for dermatology is different from the whole body version but don't quote me on that.